Mike Pompeo demoniseert Iran vanwege het zich niet houden aan de Iran-nucleaire deal… ha! ha! ha! ha!

Posted on April 27, 2020June 14, 2024 by Willem Wachtmeester

Ongelofelijk
hoe de VS denkt alles en iedereen te kunnen manipuleren en dan op de
kop staat als andere landen zich niet houden aan haar
hersenspinsels……. Afgelopen week ‘lanceerde Iran een satelliet’
naar 465 kilometer hoogte en zoals te verwachten de VS stond op de
kop, immers de VS heeft zich de ruimte toegeëigend met haar Space
Force (USSF), overigens een actie van de psychopathische Trump administratie, die recht ingaat tegen daarover gesloten verdragen……

Oorlogsmisdadiger
en topploert Pompeo, minister van buitenlandse zaken voor de VS, had
het gore lof volledig uit z’n psychopathische kop te gaan over de
lancering van die Iraanse satelliet. De schoft stelt plompverloren
dat Iran zich met die lancering niet houdt aan de Iraanse nucleaire
deal, ofwel de P5+1 nuceaire deal……. ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! ha! Pompeo had zelfs de
moeite genomen om het artikel in dat verdrag te zoeken waarin stond
dat Iran dit soort acties niet mocht ondernomen…..

Pompeo was ‘even vergeten’ dat Trump de
Iran-nucleaire deal heeft verscheurt, de VS heeft teruggetrokken uit die deal en Iran illegaal zware sancties heeft opgelegd……. Door die sancties is het land extra hard getroffen door het Coronavirus, nadat er vóór de Coronacrisis al veel ouderen, chronisch zieken en kinderen zijn overleden door tekorten aan medicijnen en medische apparatuur, juist vanwege de illegale VS sancties, ondanks dat heeft Iran veel meer succes met het bestrijden van het virus dan de VS, waar men nog steeds achter de feiten aanloopt… (zo meer daarover)

Iran is volgens Pompeo en de rest van de Trump administratie een groot verspreider van terreur, ook al een meer dan belachelijke beschuldiging, daar de VS verreweg de grootste terreurentiteit op aarde is, een land dat alleen deze eeuw al ruim meer dan 2,5 miljoen mensen heeft vermoord: -in illegale oorlogen, -in geheime militaire missies o.l.v. de CIA, -middels drones, waarbij meer dan 90% van de slachtoffers niet eens werd verdacht, dus veelal vrouwen en kinderen, -door opstanden georganiseerd door de CIA en tot slot -in staatsgrepen uitgevoerd in landen die de VS niet welgevallig zijn…… Aan dat soort grootschalige en barbaarse terreur kan Iran bij wijze van spreken nog niet in duizend jaar tippen…….

Dat was
het nog niet beste bezoeker: Pompeo beschuldigt Iran er ook nog eens
van het Coronavirus niet serieus te nemen en in te zetten op de
lancering van een satelliet…… De enorme schoft vergat voor het
gemak te melden, dat door de sancties van de VS er in Iran een groot
tekort is ontstaan aan medische middelen, medicijnen en medische apparatuur en er zoals gezegd al voor de Coronacrisis een groot aantal doden was te betreuren in Iran (in feite alweer een massamoord op het conto van de VS….)….

Nogmaals: als er één land is dat wat betreft het Coronavirus volkomen achter de
feiten aanloopt (waar Nederland heel dicht in de buurt komt) is het
de VS wel, meer dan 50.000 Crononadoden, honderden miljarden dollars voor: -het bedrijfsleven, -de
aandeelhouders en -de welgestelden, terwijl massa’s mensen werkloos zijn geworden, niet
verzekerd zijn en geen geld hebben om bijvoorbeeld een chemokuur te
betalen, waardoor in ‘het land van de ongekende mogelijkheden’ mensen
overlijden daar ze simpelweg te arm zijn om medicatie en therapie te betalen……

Het
volgende artikel werd geschreven door Finian Cunningham, waarin hij
verder op deze zaak ingaat, eerder gepubliceerd op Sputnik en
door mij overgenomen van Information Clearing House (onder het
artikel kan je klikken voor een ‘Dutch’ vertaling, dat neemt enige tijd in beslag):

Iran
Launches US Fury

By
Finian Cunningham

US-UAE military exercise in Urban Terrain facility in al-Hamra, United Arab Emirates

April 24, 2020
“Information
Clearing House”
–No
wonder the US reacted with fury this week when Iran launched a
satellite 465 kilometers into space. In baseball terms, the Iranians
just hit the US ball out of the park.

Mike Pompeo, America’s
top diplomat, is demanding more sanctions against Iran over what
he claimed was a violation of UN resolutions outlawing Iranian
military missiles in space. He called on the “Iranian regime”
to prioritise resources in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic and to
end its campaign of global terror”.

You have to hand it to
Pompeo for his total lack of awareness of America’s own absurdity.

Pompeo cited UN
Resolution 2231 which pertains to the 2015 international nuclear
accord with Iran – the same accord that the Trump administration
dumped in May 2018. So, Washington wants Iran to abide by resolutions
relating to a treaty that is non-existent, as far as the US is
concerned.

In any case, Iran says
that its communication satellite does not violate UN resolutions
because it is not for an offensive military purpose. Russia
has reportedly backed the Iranian viewpoint.

Pompeo points to the
involvement of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in the
launch as somehow indicative of malign intent ignoring the fact that
military and space technology are historically deeply entwined. None
more so than in the US space ventures, which originated from Nazi V2
rocket science.

A first military satellite named Noor is launched into orbit by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps, in Semnan, Iran April 22, 2020

The US lecturing to
Iran about a military satellite comes only weeks after President
Trump has ordered the establishment of a new Space Force which opens
up weaponization of space – in contravention of an
international treaty forbidding such development.

Pompeo’s call on Iran
to “prioritise resources” to meet the “demands of the
Iranian people” (an oblique reference to the COVID-19 crisis) is
made while the US leads the world in the number of infections and
deaths from the disease.

The abject fiasco of
Washington not being able to better contain the pandemic is a result
of chronically underfunded health services in the US. This is while
the US sends warships to the Persian Gulf – 10,000 kilometers from
its shores – to carry out naval maneuvers threatening Iranian
security and the security of the wider region. Just
who is waging a global terror campaign?

Pompeo’s piffle about
“prioritising resources” comes from a regime in Washington
that spends more than $750 billion on the military every year. That’s
nearly 57 times the estimated
$13 billion that Iran spends. And, by the way, five times more
than China, and more than 10 times Russia’s military budget.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo

[De psychopathische massamoordenaar Mike Pompeo, die als Trump, Obama en Clinton (de vrouwelijke variant) vervolgd zou moeten worden door het Internationaal Strafhof (ICC), dit voor oorlogsmisdaden en misdaden tegen de menselijkheid] Photo: Reuters

American citizens’
demand for better healthcare could be easily met if its monstrously
profligate military
expenditure was redirected. The failure of the US public health
system is made all the more apparent by the current COVID-19 crisis.

The US pandemic
death toll is this week heading above 50,000 compared with Iran’s
figure of 5,300. Considering the respective population numbers of 330
and 80 million that suggests Iran is doing a much better job at
containing the virus. On a per-capita basis, according to publicly
available data, Iran’s mortality rate is less than half that of the
US.

This is while the US
has sanctioned Iran to the hilt. American sanctions – arguably
illegal under international law – have hit Iran’s ability to import
medical supplies to cope with COVID-19 and other fatal diseases, yet
Iran through its own resources is evidently managing the crisis much
better than the US.

To top it all, Iran
this week was able to launch its first satellite into space. The
Iranians deserve applause for their technological achievement-based
entirely on their own resources and ingenuity of their scientists.

What’s really
motivating Washington’s ire is that its criminal and barbaric
sanctions policy is shown – spectacularly – to be an abysmal
flop. Even with so many resources at its disposal, the US has failed
to thwart the Iranian nation.

A handout picture provided by the Iranian Presidency on April 15, 2020 shows Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif wearing a face mask during a cabinet session in the capital Tehran

A
handout picture provided by the Iranian Presidency on April 15, 2020
shows Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif wearing a face
mask during a cabinet session in the capital Tehran

This is why Pompeo is
blustering now about appealing to other nations to impose more
international sanctions. The US sanctions alone and its campaign of
bullying and terrorism have failed, and it is desperately trying to
dragoon others to join its heartless policy – under the guise of UN
resolutions.

It would also explain
Trump’s crazed order this week to the US
navy to “shoot down” Iranian vessels in the Persian Gulf.

Washington’s
presumed global empire is all washed up. Its disgraceful dereliction
towards American public health is abundantly clear. Its bullying of
China, Russia, Venezuela, and others is futile. Its navy is impotent
from COVID-19 sick sailors aboard billion-dollar warships. And Iran,
hammered by US sanctions, is able to make a landmark satellite
achievement while beating the US in terms of managing a pandemic. No
wonder the Americans are livid.

Finian
Cunningham has written extensively on international affairs, with
articles published in several languages. He is a Master’s graduate
in Agricultural Chemistry and worked as a scientific editor for the
Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge, England, before pursuing a
career in newspaper journalism. He is also a musician and songwriter.
For nearly 20 years, he worked as an editor and writer in major news
media organisations, including The Mirror, Irish Times and
Independent. – “Source“

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for
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German,
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=================================

Voor meer berichten over Pompeo, P5+1 nucleaire deal, Iran, Venezuela, US Space Force en/of het Coronavirus, klik op het betrffende label, direct onder dit bericht.

Scott Ritter, voormalig VN-wapeninspecteur: Iran verdient de eer voor het verslaan van ISIS

Posted on October 20, 2018June 14, 2024 by Willem Wachtmeester

In het hieronder opgenomen artikel,
geschreven door voormalig VN-wapeninspecteur Scott Ritter en eerder
gepubliceerd op The American Conservative, stelt hij dat niet de VS, maar
vooral Iran de eer toekomt van het verslaan van IS in zowel Irak als Syrië…..

Ritter verhaalt over het ontstaan van
IS en alle daarbij behorende gore spelletjes van de VS, waarbij hij
de VS in feite beschuldigt van het beschermen van en samenwerken met IS,
al was het alleen om Assad af te kunnen zetten en nu als stok
tegen Iran te gebruiken…….. Intussen heeft IS al een paar aanslagen gepleegd in Iran (met de hulp van de CIA). Over de CIA gesproken: de VS heeft toegegeven dat het al jaren bezig is om de oppositie in Iran te steunen en op te zetten tegen de regering……. Zo zijn ook de zogenaamde opstanden die de laatste jaren in Iran plaatsvonden (uiterst gewelddadige ‘opstanden’), georganiseerd door de CIA…..

Scott Ritter was VN-wapeninspecteur voorafgaand aan de illegale oorlog van de VS tegen Irak in 2003. Keer
op keer liet hij de VN, de reguliere (massa-) media en politici weten
dat Irak niet langer de beschikking had over ‘massavernietigingswapens
en dat dit uit en te na was onderzocht door hem en z’n team, waarbij
Ritter uiteindelijk zijn gelijk haalde….. Lullig genoeg haalde hij z’n gelijk, pas lang nadat de VS Irak aanviel….* Deze illegale oorlog van de VS betekende de dood van meer dan nu al 1,5 miljoen
mensen (in feite is de oorlog in Irak nog steeds gaande….)….. Ach ja, de VS: de grootste terreurentiteit op onze kleine aarde…….

Lees het volgende uitstekende artikel van Scott Ritter en oordeel zelf:

Iran
Deserves Credit for the Ruin of ISIS

But
is the U.S. now allowing its last remnants to survive in Syria to
spite Tehran?

By SCOTT
RITTER • October
17, 2018

Michael
Wick / Shutterstock

Until
recently the United States viewed the Islamic State in Iraq and
Syria, or ISIS, as a major threat to regional stability in the Middle
East. Barack Obama made it a mission to roll
back ISIS’s territorial and propagandistic gain,
and Donald Trump campaigned on a promise to “kick
ISIS’s ass.”
The United States expended considerable effort, both military and
political, in a campaign to defeat the terror group in Iraq and, to a
lesser extent, in Syria.

But
there is also no doubt that the bulk of the effort came from Iran,
not the United States. Without Iranian involvement, ISIS would still
have a formidable presence in both Iraq and Syria.

ISIS
was born out of the ashes of the American invasion of Iraq. Their
rise was the logical extension of a process that saw the fabric
of secular Sunni society torn asunder by an American occupier
unwilling to further empower a Sunni ruling elite that had been loyal
to Saddam Hussein. Washington failed to understand the resentment
engendered within the Sunni community when Iraq’s Shia, some of
whom were beholden to Iran, came to power.

Traditional
Sunni tribal power structures were eviscerated as a result, only to
be replaced with radicalized Sunni youths beholden to only
themselves. Al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) was al-Qaeda in name only—its
mission wasn’t to export jihad to the West, but to free Iraq from
the grips of an American and Iranian occupation.

America’s
campaign against AQI never resulted in that movement’s destruction.
Instead, the United States, in an effort to free itself of the burden
of war created when it invaded Iraq in the first place, withdrew
from Iraq in 2012,
leaving the final phase of AQI’s destruction in the hands of the
Iraqi government. This period coincided with the start of the civil
unrest in Syria and the creation of a radicalized Islamist opposition
to Syria’s president, Bashar al-Assad. The willingness to cede
large swaths of Syrian territory to Islamist forces as a means of
destabilizing Assad created the conditions for the birth of ISIS in
the deserts of both central Syria and western Iraq.

When
ISIS advanced on the Iraqi cities of Ramadi and Fallujah, the
American-trained and -equipped Iraqi army was unable to halt its
advance. Soon the
major city of Mosul fell to ISIS,
and its forces pushed down the Tigris River valley to the outskirts
of Baghdad.

The
story of Iraq’s struggle to form a viable resistance to ISIS in the
aftermath of the fall of Mosul is little known, and even less
appreciated, by the United States. The formation of so-called
“Popular
Mobilization Forces,”
or PMF—organized at the behest of Iraq’s senior Shia leadership,
and trained, equipped, and led by Iran—was the single most
important factor behind the halting of ISIS’s drive on Baghdad and
its eventual eviction from Iraqi territory.

Western
media have paid a disproportionate amount of attention to the actions
of a select few American-trained Iraqi security forces, which, with
ample support from U.S. airpower and advisors, helped end fighting in
and around Mosul. All the while, they’ve ignored that the lion’s
share of the fighting was done by the Iranian-directed PMF. This fact
was not lost on the Iraqi people, many of whom (though not many of
the Sunnis) hold the PMF in the highest regard. This sentiment has
propelled many of the senior leadership of the PMF into political
prominence in Baghdad.

For
Iran, the ISIS phenomenon is not limited to Iraq. It is seen as part
and parcel of a concerted effort undertaken by the United States,
Saudi Arabia, and the Gulf Arab nations to overthrow Assad in Syria,
diminish the power and influence of Hezbollah in Lebanon, and roll
back Iranian influence in both Syria and Iraq. ISIS’s geographic
presence in Syria, concentrated as it was in the central and
northeastern deserts, made it a secondary target compared to the
al-Qaeda affiliates operating in and around Aleppo and Damascus.

As
the Syrian government, with the assistance of Russia, Iran, and
Hezbollah, gained the upper hand in the fight against the American-
and Saudi-backed al-Qaeda groups, however, the importance of ISIS as
a source of anti-regime resistance grew. While ISIS never had the
power to challenge Damascus directly, the
efforts undertaken by the Syrian coalition to defeat ISIS diverted
resources needed in the larger fight.
As such, the continued existence of a viable ISIS presence on Syrian
soil was deemed an acceptable outcome by the United States as it
sought to contain Iran’s presence on Syrian soil.

ISIS
in Syria lingers on, despite the fact that U.S. military power could
ensure its almost immediate elimination. The reason for the stay of
execution is not entirely clear, but it could well be that the U.S.
sees ISIS as a useful foil against Iran. Efforts by the United States
to roll back Iran’s presence inside Syria have recently become more
volatile in the wake of fiery rhetoric from senior Trump
administration officials and actions undertaken by Iran to harden
their positions. The American policy of Iranian rollback includes the
re-imposition of economic sanctions and support for opposition groups
opposed to the Iranian theocracy.

The
latter point is very sensitive. This sensitivity has only been
heightened by remarks from Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin
Salman suggesting that any struggle for influence between Riyadh and
Tehran ought to take place “inside
Iran, not in Saudi Arabia,”
and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s encouraging Iranian Arab
minorities to rise up in opposition to the Iranian government.

When gunmen
linked to ISIS attacked a military parade in the Iranian city of
Ahvaz,
killing and wounding dozens, the Iranian government was quick to
blame the United States and Saudi Arabia, among others, and promise
retaliation in kind. This prompted National Security Advisor John
Bolton to declare to Iran that “there
will indeed be hell to pay”
if Iran or its proxies attacked the U.S. or its allies.

A
few days later, Iranian
rockets were launched,
not against American targets in Basra, but locations in Syria linked
to ISIS. While the Iranian strike was in clear retaliation for the
Ahvaz attack, the rockets were emblazoned with slogans hostile to the
United States, Saudi Arabia, and Israel. This made it clear that the
strike was meant for a broader audience. Among those who took notice
were the American forces located a mere three miles away from the
targets struck by the Iranians.

Rising
tensions and strong rhetoric, if not carefully managed, could easily
lead to an unintended—and dangerous—escalation of hostilities.
This could test President Donald Trump’s uncertain appetite for
direct conflict. Moreover, the American effort to stir up an Iranian
opposition could do more to unite competing power factions within
Iran’s leadership, and unite Iranians behind that leadership, than
to divide and weaken the Iranian polity. The Trump administration
seems to operate under the delusion that Iran’s president, Hassan
Rouhani, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and Iran’s
supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, are operating in different spheres with
somewhat disparate interests. U.S. efforts to drive a wedge between
Rouhani and Khamenei will not only prove fruitless, but
backfire, closing the door to any potential negotiations and
cementing a hardline response that will have Rouhani, the IRGC, and
the supreme leader united in their opposition.

The
United States is engaged in a dangerous double game with ISIS that is
not only hypocritical in the extreme—given the 9/11 attacks on
American soil that precipitated this whole sorry affair—but
counterproductive to American national security interests. It has
both empowered and legitimized the very Iranian theocracy it seeks to
contain.

Rather
than relying on ISIS as a foil to blunt Iranian influence in Syria
and terrorize its citizenry at home, the Trump administration should
recognize the positive role that Iran has played in defeating ISIS.
It should build upon that recognition to craft a wider regional peace
process that both recognizes the realities inherent in Syria today
and reduces the tensions that prompt Iran to lean forward in such an
aggressive manner. Unfortunately, such thinking seems beyond the
capabilities of Mike Pompeo and John Bolton. As such, America will
continue to pursue poorly thought out policies with no chance of
success without any thought to either cost or consequence.

Scott
Ritter is a former Marine Corps intelligence officer who served in
the former Soviet Union implementing arms control treaties, in the
Persian Gulf during Operation Desert Storm, and in Iraq overseeing
the disarmament of WMD.

==================================

* Onbegrijpelijk maar waar, ondanks dat deze oorlog meer dan 1,5 miljoen doden heeft gekost, zijn er nog steeds politici die stellen dat deze oorlog gerechtvaardigd was, zoals CDA onderknuppel de Hoop Scheffer, die voor zijn steun aan deze illegale oorlog door de VS als zetbaas van de NAVO werd aangesteld…….. De reguliere westerse massamedia hoor je niet meer over de beginjaren van de oorlog tegen Irak, media die de leugens van de VS over de massavernietigingswapens hysterisch hebben uitgevent en de eerste jaren van de illegale oorlog tegen Irak, pal achter de VS bleven staan, waarbij ze een hele berg ‘fake news’ brachten, aangevuld met gezwets en leugens van opiniemakers……. Een smerig spel dat zoals gezegd was gebaseerd op leugens en bedrog, waarmee ze het grootste deel van het westerse volk achter deze schandalige illegale oorlog wisten te houden……… Vergeet niet dat ook wij Nederlanders via de belasting fiks hebben meebetaald aan deze oorlog, daar Nederland niet alleen in aanloop van deze illegale oorlog met een onderzeeboot inlichtingen verzamelde voor de VS, maar vervolgens gaf Nederland naast politieke steun, ook militaire steun aan deze oorlog, ofwel militairen op de grond….. Ook Nederlandse F16’s hebben lang steun verleend aan deze vuile oorlog, wat zeg ik: Nederland verleent nog steeds steun aan die oorlog met F16’s en met het trainen van het Iraakse leger……

Iran, de protesten en wat de media je niet vertellen………

Posted on January 3, 2018June 14, 2024 by Willem Wachtmeester

De
protesten in Iran worden met grote graagte door de westerse media en
politici uitgedragen als een welkome opstand tegen de
fundamentalistische heersers, zonder rekening te houden met de
huidige gematigde regering. Iran is fout punt uit!

Door
deze eenzijdige reactie van het westen, krijgen juist de
fundamentalistische heersers op de achtergrond de wind in de zeilen,
immers het westen is allesbehalve een vriend van Iran of haar
burgers. De roep om ingrijpen in Iran klinkt al jaren keihard, niet
bepaald in de laatste plaats door de VS en het grootste deel van de
NAVO leden. Daar deed de handreiking van Obama weinig aan af, een
handreiking die intussen al weer is teruggedraaid door de Trump
administratie……

De VS heeft trouwens al veel langer gewelddadige activisten in Iran gesteund, dit om de regering ten val te brengen (waarin ook Nederland een rol speelde) en reken maar dat de CIA zelf ook actief is in Iran……..

De
huidige demonstranten zijn bepaald niet vreedzaam, zoals dit wel het geval was tijdens het grootste deel van de ‘Groene Revolutie’ in 2009, ze zijn gewapend en brengen grote vernielingen aan, zoals het in brand steken van gebouwen…… De aantallen
demonstranten zijn een stuk minder groot dan men aanneemt in het
westen. Politiebureaus en wapendepots zijn door demonstranten
overvallen om zo aan meer wapens te komen….

Zoals gezegd: de kans is weer levensgroot dat een deel van de demonstranten in Iran is
gekocht door de VS, die een reputatie hebben op het gebied van
opstanden organiseren, opstanden die dan moeten uitlopen in het afzetten van
een VS onwelgevallige regering……. Voorbeelden van het organiseren van dit soort opstanden door de VS (CIA), opstanden die in een coup moesten uitmonden en wat meestal lukt: Libië, Oekraïne, Syrië (in dit land mislukte de coup tegen Assad) en voor Zuid-Amerika Honduras, Brazilië en Venezuela (let wel: dit zijn de laatst bekende voorbeelden). In het volgende artikel kan u lezen dat Rex Tillerson, de VS minister van Buitenlandse Zaken, e.e.a. toegeeft wat betreft Iran, zo bleek uit een uitgelekt memorandum…..

Ook in het volgende artikel (van Darius Shahtahmasebi) o.a. de stelling dat de conservatieve krachten in Iran baat hebben bij deze protesten om zo de gematigde president Rohani onder druk te zetten…… Dat de VS zelfs deze krachten zou steunen is niets nieuws, als de VS een regering ten val wil brengen, schijnt alles geoorloofd te zijn (zelfs samenwerking met terreurgroepen als IS en Al Qaida…)……

Everything
the Media Isn’t Telling You About the Protests Rocking Iran Right
Now

January
2, 2018 at 12:53 pm

Written
by Darius
Shahtahmasebi

(ANTIMEDIA Op-ed) — Over
the past week, Iran has been hit with series
of protests,
reportedly in relation to the country’s current economic climate.
Where this particular narrative is headed is of major concern because
of the current atmosphere in the Middle East and its deadly dynamics.

Approximately
two weeks ago, the truth about U.S. foreign policy was revealed in a
leaked memo that purportedly coached Secretary of State Rex Tillerson
on how to use human rights as a pretense to attack America’s
adversaries

“Allies
should be treated differently — and better — than adversaries.
Otherwise, we end up with more adversaries, and fewer
allies,” stated the
memo, which was written by Tillerson’s influential policy aide,
Brian Hook. Approximately two weeks ago, the truth
about U.S. foreign policy was revealed in a leaked memo that
purportedly coached Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on how to use
human rights as a pretense to attack America’s adversaries

As
part of the U.S. foreign policy playbook, in June 2017, Tillerson
himself confirmed that official U.S. policy towards Iran included
a regime
change strategy.
He said:

“We
continually review the merits both from the standpoint of diplomatic
but also international consequences of designating the Iranian
Revolutionary Guard in its entirety as a terrorist organization. As
you know, we have designated the Quds [Force]. Our policy towards
Iran is to push back on this hegemony, contain their ability to
develop obviously nuclear weapons, and to work toward
support of those elements inside
of Iran that would lead to a peaceful
transition of that government. Those
elements are there, certainly as we know.” [emphasis
added]

Around
the same time, the Trump administration appointed Michael
D’Andrea, the CIA’s “Dark Prince,” to head the CIA’s “Iran
operations.” Given the CIA overthrew Iran’s
democratically elected government in 1953, relying
almost completely on
one die-hard agent to do so, this program’s trajectory should be
clear.

Barely
days after D’Andrea’s appointment, Iran was
coincidentally rocked by
an ISIS-inspired attack. Republican
congressman Rep.
Dana Rohrabacher suggested the attack was “a good thing.”

In
December, CIA director Mike Pompeo admitted he
sent a letter to General Qassem Soleimani, a stalwart
leader of
the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), saying he will hold
Iran and Soleimani “accountable” for any attacks on Washington’s
interests in Iraq. This is the same IRGC commander who announced Iran
would begin supporting Palestinian forces in the Gaza strip after
Trump’s infamous Jerusalem debacle.

Unsurprisingly,
U.S. intelligence agencies reportedly just
gave the green light to Israel to assassinate this commander, a clear
act of war.

The
timing of the current protests has coincided
with reports that
the U.S. and Israel formulated a joint plan to specifically target
Iran. This coincides with Nikki Haley’s grandiose anti-Iran
performance, which has been full of deceit
and hawkish propaganda.
Further, Israel hopes these protests will be an opportunity to take
the Iranian government’s attention away from Israel, according to
a top
intelligence expert.

Even
without Iranians taking to the streets, it is clear that the Trump
administration and its regional allies have been planning to take the
fight to Iran.

Discerning
the Truth About the Recent Protests

What
should we make of the recent protests sweeping the country?

Even
according to the mainstream media, the protests are not exactly what
they seem. Iran’s president acknowledged that
Iranians have a right to peaceful protest and that the protesters are
not necessarily guided by foreign elements as “a
number of them are the people who came to the streets because of
their (economic) problems.”

“Criticism
is different [from] violence and destroying public property,” he
also reportedly said.

According
to Haaretz,
the protests were initially riled up by Iran’s conservative
hard-line opposition to
put pressure on the current Iranian president, who is considered a
moderate. The protesters are not necessarily the
democracy-seeking students the media has portrayed them as.

The
mainstream media further acknowledged that the Iranian authorities
are actively trying to avoid a massive crackdown. From Slate:

“It
seems clear that Iranian leaders are trying to avoid a massive
crackdown of the surprisingly
large protests
for now, worried that any huge repression could lead to a crisis
similar to what took place in 2009.”

As
Reuters explained:

“Iranian
moderates are appealing for caution even though some hardliners are
calling for an iron fist to crush one of the gravest threats to
Iran’s clerical leaders, who came to power in the 1979 Islamic
revolution.

“Those
divisions are making it hard for the authorities to defuse
spontaneous demonstration, especially as there are no apparent
protest leaders who can be identified and rounded up.”

The
media is still treating the videos of anti-government protesters
shouting “Death to the dictator!” as “unconfirmed,”
meaning they haven’t been properly verified. Or consider this
recent Reuters report,
which stated the following:

“Mohsen
Nasj Hamadani, deputy security chief in Tehran province, said about
50 people had rallied in a square but most had left after being asked
to by police, while a few who refused were ‘temporarily detained,’
the ILNA news agency reported.”

Carl
Bildt, former Swedish prime minister and co-chair for the
European Council on Foreign Relations quickly took
to Twitter to
state that there were “[r]eports
of signals of international satellite TV networks jammed in large
cities of Iran. Would be sign of regime fear of today’s protests
spreading.” However,
the only reports that can be found online of jammed international TV
networks are from at least five years prior to the current unrest.
Not surprisingly, Wikileaks cables suggested Bildt
served as a U.S. government informant when he was just 27 years old.

In
other words, it would pay to be overly meticulous when following the
reports on this intricate topic.

To
be clear, the protests are not nearly as concerned with Iran’s
foreign policy as much as some media
outlets are claiming they
are. As the Atlantic explained:

“Unlike
what President Trump suggests, the protests aren’t about Iran’s
broader behaviour and foreign policy. And they’re not about the
regime’s support for terrorism…their main concern lies in the
price of day-to-day items and goods, such as poultry and eggs, as
well as unemployment and access to services.”

The death
toll in
the protests and the authorities’ inevitable response quickly grew
to at least 12 — a damning statistic for the Iranian government.
However, whether the following allegations are true or not,
the mainstream
media has
acknowledged that deaths occurred as a result of confrontation,
specifically, the claim that armed protesters began storming military
bases and police stations. Other government compounds were stormed,
as well, with protesters
lighting fires in
government offices.

These
are no longer students who are complaining about the price of eggs or
the right to dress in modern clothing (in a remarkable coincidence,
just before the protests erupted, Tehran’s police stated they
would no longer arrest women for violating the Islamic dress code).
Overrunning military bases and police stations with arms doesn’t
make you a protester, it makes you a militant. As
journalist Ben Norton wrote on
his Facebook page, “If
‘armed protesters’ (quite a phrase) tried to overrun military
bases and police stations in the US, it would declare martial law.”

Things
may not be so dire in Iran to require an armed uprising just yet
(just take a look at the thousands
of pro-government supporters who
have rallied the streets of Iran’s major cities). It would be
disingenuous to pay sole attention to the anti-government protesters
while ignoring the thousands of those who do support their
government. This is not to say that Iranians do not have genuine
cause to take to the streets and protest, but it certainly gives good
cause to the international community that perhaps — just this once
— it would do well to mind its own business.

Even
according to some of the biggest corporate media outlets, there is
likely foul play if people are taking arms against the Iranian
government in the current circumstances. As the New
York Magazine acknowledged:

“As The
Guardian and New
York Times point
out, small
protests focused on economic issues are normal in Iran, but
politically charged protests across the country where people feel
safe chanting ‘death to the dictator’ — a knock on Supreme
Leader Ali Khamenei — are not.
The protests will undoubtedly be an important test for the relatively
moderate Rouhani, who has not been spared as a subject of chanting at
the rallies; in his remarks on Sunday, Rouhani was clearly trying to
walk a delicate line. There
is also apparently suspicion among members of his administration and
other reformers about what forces may be behind the
unrest.” [emphasis
added]

The
West’s Hypocrisy is Staggering

Despite
this, Donald Trump was quick to take to Twitter
to condemn Iran
and voice his support for the protesters. State Department
spokeswoman Heather Nauert also said in a statement that
the U.S. urged “all
nations to publicly support the Iranian people and their demands for
basic rights and an end to corruption.”

This
is the same administration that banned the Iranian people from
merely visiting the
United States.

Even
Hillary Clinton voiced
her support for
the Iranian people currently protesting against the government.
Apparently, Clinton has forgotten about the video of her where she
broke into hysterical
laughter while
talking about the U.S.’ desire to launch a war against Iran, which
would undoubtedly kill hundreds of thousands of ordinary Iranians.

We
would also do well to remember that after Donald Trump was elected
U.S. president at the end of 2016, America was inundated with
anti-Trump protests. Los Angeles police arrested at
least 462 people at the time. America’s NATO ally
Turkey arrested,
detained, suspended, and
fired tens
of thousands of
teachers, lawyers, military officers, and court officials (with
at least 249 deaths in total) – and yet Donald Trump has
only appeared
to praise the
Turkish government’s crackdown.

America’s
Middle Eastern darling, Israel, has also been rocked by thousands
of protesters participating
in anti-corruption marches specifically targeting Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel also infamously locked
up a young teenage girl who
was brave enough to slap an Israeli soldier who had invaded her home.

For
the sake of argument, let’s all agree that Iran’s protests are
genuine. That fact alone isn’t grounds for an illegal regime
change operation
given the international standards the rest of the world has been
operating under for years. Allowing Trump to take the protests for a
ride to serve his own ludicrous foreign policy agenda also undermines
the intellect and history of Iran and its people, as
the Atlantic explains:

“Iranians
aren’t ‘finally’ waking up and ‘getting wise,’ as Trump
suggests. Instead, Iran has a dynamic and active civil society, which
has created and embraced opportunities for reformation and progress
for decades…And many Iranians have paid for these ideals with their
lives.”

Don’t
buy into the hypocrisy. Donald Trump does not care about ordinary
Iranians, and he certainly doesn’t care about Iran’s access to
democracy. If Donald Trump cared about the Iranian people’s
economic concerns, the simple solution would be to stop unilaterally
slamming the country with economic
sanctions on a routine basis.

In
the words of the Atlantic, Donald Trump “barely
understands the country he’s repeatedly demonized.”

We’ve
been here before.
The groundwork
is being laid for
a direct confrontation with Iran, and we are naïve at best if we
decide to take the bait. America’s footprint in the Middle East was
never rooted in any concerns for human rights, and believe it or not,
America’s interests and desires are always
rooted in money.

The
last thing Iran needs right now in order to move towards a more
democratic and economically viable country is the direct interference
of the United States, a country that has reportedly killed
over one million Muslims since
the 9/11 attacks.

If
the Iranians want to exact change; they can and will do it
themselves. As stated by
the Tudeh Party of Iran, an Iranian communist party formed in 1941:

“It
should be noted that under the critical conditions of the current
dangerous regional tensions, the regional reaction – supported by
the Trump administration in the US and the right-wing government of
Netanyahu in Israel – is seeking to distinctly impact the
developments in our country and to replace the current reactionary
regime with another reactionary regime.

“The
support of these forces…for the Iranian monarchists and those
political groups whose agenda is to cooperate with the most
reactionary regimes of the region and to persuade the European states
to impose sanctions on Iran’s economy – thereby exacerbating the
misery for the destitute and disadvantaged people of our country –
and to encourage foreign states to interfere militarily in Iran,
leaves no room whatsoever for any optimism regarding the future
designs of such ‘opposition’…We should not let the past repeat
itself whereby the heroic struggle of the nation for freedom,
democracy and social justice is hijacked by a bunch of reactionary
opportunities who do not believe in the people’s rights or
democratic freedoms.”

Correction:
A previous version of this article stated the Trump administration
was behind the arrests of protesters in Los Angeles after his
election in November 2016. It has been corrected to reflect that
while police arrested protesters, they did not do so at the direction
of the Trump administration as he had not yet taken office.
Protesters at his inauguration, however, were arrested and have gone
on to face
charges this
year.